A transgender veteran is speaking out, saying Omaha Veterans Affairs hospital staff instructed her to use a men's bathroom.

Amber Hagge says the experience gave her so much anxiety, she chose to leave her month-long inpatient treatment on the very first day.

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But now, she is the reason the V.A. has made a change.

It all started with a trip to the shower – one she never wants to make again.

“I haven’t used a men’s restroom in over 15 years and for them to take me in the men’s restroom, and just to see a urinal in the restroom was really, it was a shock,” Hagge said.

Hagge, an Army veteran and transgender woman, says she was under inpatient care at the Omaha V.A. Hospital Monday when staff told her she needed to use the men's bathroom to shower.

“And when I was coming out of the restroom I got confronted by a lot of men, other veterans,” she said. “It caused me to have really bad anxiety and safety concerns.”

Hagge says she left her program early, believing V.A. staff didn't follow policy outlined in its health care directive.The policy says room assignments and access to any facilities for which gender is normally a consideration, like restrooms, will give preference to the self-identified gender.

“I'm very proud of who I am, I'm very happy of who I am,” Hagge said.

No one from the V.A. was available for an interview, but representatives say the men's sign has since been changed.

They sent a statement, saying they "are continually training staff about culturally and clinically-competent care for LGBT veterans."

Hagge hopes her ordeal prevents this from happening to anybody else.

“I know there's a lot of veterans who are like myself, and it's for them, too,” she says.